Old pictures

Since we got the new camera several months ago, the Sony that we relied on so well during vacations has been neglected. Never mind that it is the camera of choice when we want to carry a less bulky, less intrusive camera. So we had the small camera with us Friday when we took our grandson, Kyle, out for his birthday.

I was surprised to see some of the pictures that were taken, only to be long forgotten.

Lorena on the left, Helen and an unknown lady from the campground in Lake Panasoffkee. They organized a trip to the Dinner Theater in Hudson, Florida and Helen and i were invited. We had seats only a few feet from the stage and had a grand time. This was January 22nd and it was COLD!!!

This is the group of RV Dreamers who met for lunch at Smokey Bones in Lakeland on January 31st. In the background, under the big picture is Donna (Froggie) and Stu, who were the organizers. Nearly everyone there is a full timer and it really got me thinking. This is especially true as I continue to work in the yard. Many hours and a lot of aches and pains later and there is not much difference. What I now realize is how much more work awaits.

We had our friend, Lorena, with us for several days while her motorhome was being repaired at a body shop in Leesburg. We dropped her off Friday afternoon on our way to pick up our grandkids in Clermont. I couldn't help but notice the Harley-Davidson sitting there, though it's not really what caught my eye.

While motorcycles are very popular in Florida, especially with the older folks, you don't often see a bike like the one above. Foolishly, I didn't look close enough to get any information, I was just taken with this relic of the past. Someone has put some work into a restoration job that staggers the imagination.

Mostly, though, I can recall seeing some similar bikes and sidecars in WW II and Indiana Jones films and I don't think a fast ride over dirt roads would be that enjoyable. I'm hoping that Sam, Stu, or someone will shed some light on what this is.

This is my grandson, Kyle. Eight years old and counting. He tends to be a quiet fellow when his older brother, Keaton, will leave him alone. The brain in the family he is one of the top students in his grade.

He was a little light on the food, but he sure made up for it with the ice cream. He had me get him a cone and I got him a BIG one by my standards. He went through that one in no time and had his brother get one that dwarfed mine. No room for meat and potatoes, but a bottomless pit for ice cream. We'll be seeing more of him and his brother when they spend spring break with us.

Now I'm back to more mundane things, like cutting up the trees I've taken down. I have to admit that I'm still doing the work, but no longer suffer the aches and pains later. At the library where I work on taxes, one of the librarians thought that I looked like I lost some weight. That's always nice to hear. I think I've earned an ice cream myself.

I think I'm caught up on the blog........for now.

Later.

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY and LAZY, LAZY, LAZY

I know that I have not been on in a while, and it's not that I had nothing to report, it's just that I have been very busy and when I wasn't busy, I was exhausted. No,....Really! Helen still has me taking down trees and vines when I'm not doing taxes for AARP. Then there was the Greek Festival, dinner with the Girls for Helen's Birthday, a visit from my brother, Rick, and his wife, Linda. The pups had the pleasure of a visit from Linda's Maltese, Mya. All the four legged fur babies got along fine. Mya got a little protective when one of ours got close to Linda, but not too aggressive.

Rick, Linda, and Mya.

Rick is my younger brother by two years and if I lost 80 pounds we'd look like twins. He and Linda have a home in Massachusetts and a cottage on Cape Cod. Neither of them offer much when the winter winds blow, so they also have a home in Palm Bay. Rick refuses to retire, so we see them for a few weeks in late October and then a month in February and March. Our cold winter down here doesn't compare to what they have been having up north this year.

Saturday Helen took Rick and Linda to the strawberry festival in Floral City. I was a bit under the weather and chose to stay behind and tend to the four dogs. They passed the Ferris Grove store on the way down and found that the strawberries were $2.00 more at the festival and then you had to carry them back to the car. They chose to stop back at the Ferris Grove store and get the berries there. We had a good time during the weekend just chatting and catching up on family news. Our son Paul (PT) was over and just added to the conversation.

In a previous blog I mentioned the racing boat that one of my friends has. The race was last weekend and Rick and I drove down to Lakeland to have a look. IT WAS FANTASTIC!!! it was not some hick race by locals, but a fully sanctioned race of the American Power Boat Association.

This is what greeted us when we first arrived. A race was underway and the noise was incredible. All those blown gas engines with straight exhaust were something to see and hear. I believe the boat above is a "K" class, which has a conventional hull.

Next was a race of hydroplanes, but not the same class that my friend, Glenn, races. These run a lot smoother than the conventional hulls and are much faster.

This is a "Jersey Skiff" and I've never seen these before. They are a riot to watch as they roll and lurch and look like they're going to fall over. They have a 16 foot hull that must meet certain criteria and are powered by a Chevy 283 or 305 cubic inch engine. As you can see here, often the only parts in the water are the propeller and rudder. Also, this class requires a driver and a passenger, both tied into rear seats under the roll cage and strapped in with 5 point harnesses. I understand that in the old days it was common to lose a passenger and sometimes the driver, too.

Another Jersey Skiff

And a third.

This is Glenn's boat waiting for his race.

Taking off to start the heat.

Here "Southern Magic" rounds the final turn before heading across the main viewing area.

Another picture with "Southern Magic" holding it's lead.

Yet another picture

A nice picture of the three leaders heading across the viewing area.

All alone.

This is a great picture, if I do say so myself. Here are the three leaders in the modified 2.5 liter engine class. It was taken well into the race and the three boats are neck in neck going over 130 miles per hour. That is a tight race by any standards. Now, for the rest of the story......

Glenn was ecstatic about his boat's performance. The other two boats are owned by a number of people and many thousands of dollars were spent to make the boats as competitive as they are. I believe that they spent more on their engines than Glenn spent on his whole rig, and it makes Glenn proud that this back-yard mechanic can run with the big dogs. Another thing about this race is that one of the other boats is the national champion and is piloted by the father of the lad the pilots Glenn's boat

Rick and I had a great time and the Lakeland spot was ideal. Although it was not large enough to have the unlimited hydroplanes, like Miss Budweiser, it was a beautiful place. The lake is surrounded by a bicycle/running track with broad grassy shoulders for picnics or viewing the race.

This brings us to Monday. Our Good friend Lorena from New Brunswick, Canada had as altercation with another vehicle while down the Keys. The body work is being done a few miles away and we picked up Lorena to be our guest while the work is being done. It should be done by tomorrow. Tuesday evening we met with Rita and Barb and we all went to "The Cove", for chicken wings. The Barita girls have a passion for those wings, as does Helen. I chose a cheese burger.

Today was a day off from AARP, so I was back to cutting wood and burning. Oh, yeah, it's the day to catch up wit the blog.

I had to move the motorhome so the people next door can have some trees taken down. They were nice enough to let me know that a few of the trees are leaning toward our RV and didn't want to take the chance on something going wrong. When I moved the rig, I notice the rear right outside tire looked flat. In fact, it was flat and it wouldn't register a single pound on the pressure gauge. I pumped it up and took off the valve extender to see where the problem lies. What I really need is another job to do.

Later!

Hello Barita Girls!!!

I have been accused of falling down on the job of adding to my blog, so I'm saying "HELLO" to Barb and Rita,........HELLO GIRLS!!

I'm also including a couple of pictures from our day at the Greek festival.

Here Rita is giving a fake smile in spite of the poor food at the festival.

Barbara trying to be interested in all that is going on.

Here I am with Alana, who is a friend of Rita's due to Alana's mother or grandmother having gone to school with Rita.

And here is Rita again, cuddling up with the youngest of all the old men at the festival.

Hello Girls!!!

A Great Toy!

There is a woman that I work with at AARP named Eileen. Her husband, Glenn, is an extremely talented individual who has been racing boats for many years. This may not be very interesting to the ladies who read my blog, but I think the guys will be as impressed as I am.

This is the hydroplane that Glenn (pictured) is getting ready to race next weekend in Lakeland. The finish is like a mirror and the overall craftsmanship is perfection all the way. He told me earlier that if I wanted to see the boat, it should be before the race as he could not be certain that it would still be worthy of pictures after the race.

This is the view looking back. The cockpit cover is not on and the engine cowling is sitting on the custom trailer behind to the left.

This is just a quarter view from the front.

This is obviously the engine, a special unit that runs on methanol, not gasoline. Glenn has fabricated all the fittings in the engine compartment and everywhere else. The engine uses a "dry sump" oil system, so there is no oil pan. Instead, there is a tank that sits aft of the engine, just out of sight to the left of the picture. The oil is preheated and is pumped through the engine, then a line goes back to the oil tank.

This picture shows a lot of things. You can see the oil tank behind the engine. Of course it's all covered by the engine cowling. Attached to the left sponson is a stainless steel blade that sticks well into the water. In the picture it's just to the right of the steps. When the boat is racing, the two turning points are that blade and the rudder. Without the blade, the boat wouldn't turn because only the rudder and half of the propeller are in the water. Yes, that's a fully restored '57 Chevy convertible in the background.

Here is the propeller shaft strut as constructed by Glenn. It's made of aluminum that he cut and fit, then sent out to be powder coated. The line coming from the top of the boat carries water to the strut bearing to assure lubrication. To the left is the rudder. A pipe going to the bottom of the rudder supplies all the water for cooling and lubrication.

Some years ago Glenn set a few records. Oh how I'd like to take this boat for a spin. Unfortunately, there is no way that I could squeeze into a cockpit made for a much smaller, much younger individual. I looked in , and it would be a tight fit, even for the youngster.

Later.

It's FALL in Florida.

Yes, that's correct! It's Fall in our neighborhood, but not Autumn. The trees around us are green all year so we don't have the traditional Autumn when all the leaves turn bright colors and then fall, leaving the trees bare and dismal looking. Our trees have green leaves all year, but in the late winter some leaves turn yellow and fall from the trees, but leave a lot of new green leaves behind.

You can see the yellow in the trees. They soon fall leaving the nice green leaves. Another sign of spring is the blooming whatchamacallit as seen below. Helen can give you the real name.

Helen and I are still working on our yard and, of course, I have another fire going. We have removed a lot of dead and dying trees and there is still a long way to go. The new leaf blower is working very well. It forces air into the fire and makes it burn hot and fast. How hot? I don't know, but in the picture below you can see the brown glass bottle melted into the dirt and the remains of a spray paint can.

That's all I could find of the bottle. The rest must have melted into the ground and I'll find it later. In the past, using this system, I have recovered fused dirt the size of softballs. I sort of wish I was burning in pure sand to see if I could make some kind of glass.

I've had a few problems with equipment as the project continues. The pull starter cord on my chainsaw broke so I bought a new one. On the second pull with the new cord, the engine kicked back and the new cord broke. I think it's pre ignition because I've been using regular gas. I changed to high test this morning and it seems to be working fine now. I also have a gas powered weed eater. It's a Toro with a string weed eater as well as a blade for clearing small brush. The blade works fine on the briers and such. Saturday it was working very well for a while then stopped. It does that sometimes and all I have to do is restart and continue. Not this time. I pulled on the starter cord but there was no resistance. The starter doesn't engage. Another fix-it project.

Yesterday was Helen's birthday and we celebrated #39 again! We went to see the latest Liam Neeson movie, UNKNOWN. I don't usually choose that kind of a movie, but it was really good and I'd have to give it two thumbs up. After the movie we walked next door and had dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. With Helen as my date, it couldn't have been nicer. The meal, though, was not up to par. There seems to be a misunderstanding about what is rare, medium rare, medium, etc. We do not like our beef rare, but cooked to shoe leather is not good either. The waitress had the solution, order rare and then send it back for a little more cooking. I don't think so!

On the Dog's blog I mentioned a book, A Dog's Purpose, by W. Bruce Cameron. It was recommended to me by a friend, but I hesitate to recommend it to anyone else. I'm a wuss when it comes to dogs. I know how Old Yeller ends, so I have never seen the movie. This book is written from a dog's position, but I don't want to give too much away. Suffice it to say that as I was reading it, my three dogs were on my bed sitting beside me. There were times when tears flowed from my eyes as I couldn't help relate some of the story to my dogs. A warning....if you start it, you MUST finish it because in the end, it's not too bad.

That's it for today. I'm through burning and cutting wood. Tomorrow and Wednesday are AARP TaxAide sessions, so I get to sit at a desk all day.

Later.

A sobering day at TaxAide.

I have been helping people with their federal taxes for four years now and today was a particularly hard day for me. One of my clients was a woman whose taxes I've done two or three times before. In the past she was in the company of her husband, but today she was alone. Her husband passed away two weeks ago due to cancer. He was treated by a local doctor and would not consider a transfer to Moffitt Cancer Center, one of the best cancer centers in the country. She told me that he wanted her to make an appointment with us to get the taxes done as he apparently knew his time was short.

This particular client is a very sweet lady who has all her paper work in order. She highlights the pertinent information in yellow so it's easy to find. There is nothing complicated about their return and they have been among the most pleasant people I deal with. I found it difficult to ask the questions I had to in order to get the return filed. All our returns are quality checked by another person, and I got Eileen to to the review because I felt she would be the most compassionate. Eileen did a thorough check of the return then took considerable time counseling the lady on the tax situation she will fall into in two years. We finished all the paper work and the lady left. Eileen went into the staff lounge, coming out a few minutes later with red eyes.

I'm grateful that the client was able to hold herself together so well, though there were times when I could see her close to tears. I'm happy to be working with people like Eileen who will go above ad beyond to help someone.

This could be the story of any of us at our age and I hope that we're all doing our best to be the best we can be while enjoying life to the fullest. Life is short.

Later.

A job completed

Today I finished pressure washing the driveway. Here is the picture of the driveway mostly done.

And here is the finished job.

I moan and groan, bitch and complain, but that's what I do. Actually, washing the driveway is a once a year project and it takes about 5 hours. It's warm out and I can do the job in shorts and a tee shirt. Now, I have to compare that with Sam in Missouri or my brother back in Massachusetts who has no place left to put the snow. He works at Logan Airport in Boston, and they're having a real problem there, too. It seems that there is a law against dumping the snow in Boston harbor due to the contaminants in the snow, fuel and oil leakage, de-icing chemicals, salt for using on walking areas, etc. The airport has a designated dumping area where these chemicals will be filtered through the ground and dissipate before getting to the harbor. This year the dumping area will hold no more snow and they are dumping directly into Boston Harbor. It's bothersome I suppose because the harbor used to be very polluted, and there has been a great effort to clean it up in recent years. It's no secret that striped bass and bluefish have returned to the harbor, proving that the water is better quality than it has been in years. Still, a winter like this has been a great burden on much of the north. Pressure washing the driveway is nothing compares to shoveling snow.

When I lived up north, I had to shovel the driveway in order to get to work. I guess it wouldn't be so bad now that I could just curl up with a good book and wait for the snow to melt, but warmer is better. It's SOOOOO much better.

Later